About Me

Sunday, September 30, 2018

"Spheres" is an experimental film series from Eliza McNitt, a "celestially immersive experience focusing on the human connection with the cosmos." Cool. And to make it even cooler, the filmmaker enlisted S U R V I V E's Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein (of "Stranger Things" soundtrack fame) to provide the score. Equal parts new age planetarium synths and eerie interstellar ambience, the duo have crafted a very intoxicating piece of music. Listen to the whole thing below and get it here from Lakeshore.

Saturday, September 29, 2018

It's a rare Saturday off for me today, and a few hours, i'll be handing my children off to a stranger and going to a beer festival. Good times. But for now, let's mellow it out a little with this dreamy and cinematic slice of modern Americana from LA folk artist Anna St. Louis. "Desert" sounds both beautiful and delirious, a red and pink vista at sunset. Listen below and pre-order the upcoming "If Only There Was a River" LP here, due next month from Woodsist.

Friday, September 28, 2018

Here's some retro-sounding dark industrial new wave from LA band Sextile to bump for your Friday listening. The duo's "3" EP is out now via the always excellent Felte Records (order it here), but in the meanwhile, listen to the thumping, beeping "Paradox" below.

Thursday, September 27, 2018

Well this is just awesome, and it's right in time for the Halloween season too. Long running avant garde art pop band Deerhoof have a 7" dropping next month on Famous Class Records called "Deerhoof Plays Music of The Shining," two tracks of the band's interpretations of music from the Stanley Kubrick film. Listen to "Midnight, The Stars and You" below and get the record here.

Louisiana sludge metal band Thou is having one hell of a productive year, having already released three vastly different EPs and a career defining LP. And now they've got a split 12" out with fellow noise makers, Oakland's Ragana. The two artist's "Let Our Names Be Forgotten" split is dedicated to the people lost in the Ghost Ship fire and sounds like an aching, solemn blend of Americana and metal. Get the record here from An Out Recordings, and listen to both Ragana's "Inviolate" and Thou's "The Fool Who Thought He Was King" below.

Crafting maybe the most mellow and gorgeous record ever released on the Finnish metal label Blood Music, Kayo Dot member Toby Driver's latest solo album, "They Are the Shield" is a lush and somber mix of chamber music, prog rock, and classical compositions. In some ways, the whole thing plays like some kind of alternate reality impression of a deep cut King Crimson song. Listen to the beautifully haunting "Glyph" below and get the record here.

Allah-Las member Pedrum Siadatian has a solo project on the horizon called Paint. The self-titled album is a stripped down and lo-fi psych affair, akin to a collection of Syd Barrett outtakes. Listen to "Daily Gazette" below and get the album here in November on Mexican Summer.

It's crazy that the Mexican Summer record label is 10 years old. Man, time flies. To celebrate, the label is releasing "A Decade Deeper," a compilation album of unreleased tracks from a bevy of artists on their roster. Listen to New York's Arp's cinematic album opener "Il Sogno Di Monica" below and pre-order the album here.

Seattle band somesurprises make a particular brand of spaced out and trippy rock music. And while the band melds some aspects of krautrock and prog on the latter half of their latest EP "Alt," the album opener "Low on Sleep" is far more indebted to the kind of slowcore and shoegaze alt-rock sounds coming out of the '90s. Give it a listen below, and cop the cassette here from Doom Trip Records.

Central Texas artist Molly Burch is back with her sophomore effort next week, and this go around seems to be upping the old school country vibe that her debut played in. Snag the "First Flower" LP here from Captured Tracks, and listen to album opener "Candy" below.

It what appears to be the last release of material recorded and produced during the sessions for last year's "IV" LP, Toronto's BADBADNOTGOOD just dropped "Tried," a smooth, dreamy, and soulful collaboration with Swedish band Little Dragon. Listen below and get it here via Innovative Leisure.

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

A little late on this, but last month, one of my SXSW surprise favorites, the LA dreampop band Cones, released a new single, the synthy, poppy, soft rock and R&B indebted "Run the Risk." Listen below and get it here from the band.

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Early in the summer, we got taste of what LA band Hooveriii had in store for us, the "Guillotine" single being a burst of psych and krautrock to throttle our senses into submission. And now, with the release of their new, self-titled full-length LP, the band blend and mix elements of psych rock, krautrock, space rock, prog, and experimental walls of noise into a sublime and tripped out experience. Listen to album opener "Bird on a Wire" below and cop the record here from the band.

Crafting stark, sparse, and beautiful sonic landscapes, Oakland's Omni Gardens has just the tone you need for your meditative headspace. Debut album "West Coast Escapism" is due this Friday from Holodeck Records (order it here), but in the meantime, watch the video for album opener "Thinking" below and believe that we're all going to be okay.

Sunday, September 23, 2018

Difficult listens. That's what we're going to do today. It was a good football weekend for me, the temperature is about 20 degrees cooler than usual, and it was free museum day today which means my wife and i attempted to culture our 5-year old and our 2-year old. So here's to more culture with the sprawling, eerie cacophony of "Four Variations on 'Artificial Society'," a collaborative album of ambience, drone, noise, and experimental jazz from the artists in Wolf Eyes and Universal Indians, collectively referred to as Universal Eyes. And man, this thing sounds massive, like haunting sounds of dying star or the machine hum background noise of something David Lynch might be a part of. Listen to the whole epic mess below and download it from the bands here.

Saturday, September 22, 2018

It's been overcast for days now, rain falling sporadically, and so why not listen to some icy, darkwave synth pop from Europe to pair with the atmosphere? Listen to "Natural Order" from The Coventry below and be on the lookout for their upcoming "The Art of Survival" album next month here on SwissDarkNights.

Thursday, September 20, 2018

Morabeza Tobacco is the Stockholm duo of Gustav and Vanilla, and the pair make warped and dreamy lo-fi disco pop jams for the masses. Listen to the excellently titled "Defenders of the Glam" below and be on the lookout for a proper release from the group in the near future from Luminelle.

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

You may have heard that there's a new "Halloween" movie just around the corner. And you may have heard that John Carpenter, not content with being just a producer on the thing, is also providing the score. Today, we get to hear some of it. Check out "The Shape Returns" below and go and pre-order a copy of the record here from Sacred Bones, or a variant colored vinyl version from Waxwork here.

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti have made a whole lot of music and art together, and apparently, so 25+ years ago, the duo were working on some material, weird and experimental esoteric jazz with spoken word poetry, and it's finally seeing the light of day thanks to the good folks at Sacred Bones, a recent purveyor of all things audio Lynch. The self-titled Thought Gang album drops in November. Listen to "Woodcutters from Fiery Ships" below and pre-order the record here.

Monday, September 17, 2018

I love that in the 1980s there was this whole DIY electronic scene of artists recording super limited runs of their work on cassette tapes that got traded in and around the scene. And now, a lot of that music is seeing a wider release in the form of reissues and compilations (see collection of material from The Nightcrawlers released earlier this year), a trend that i hope continues. In November, RVNG is set to release "Beside Herself," a collection of music from Pennsylvania artist Michele Mercure recorded between 1983 and 1990. Listen to and watch the video for "An Accident Waiting to Happen" below and pre-order the record here.

So..."Mandy." Wow. The film is everything you've heard, a beautiful, violent, and trippy fever dream of a movie. It wades lovingly through a heavy metal aesthetic, drawing powerful and rage-fueled performances from its leads, all while a deep, pervading sadness underscores each and every scene. I LOVE this movie. And like many a great film, its score/soundtrack is just as important as any performance or shot or edit. This is the final film score from the late, great Jóhann Jóhannsson, and it's such a wonderful swan song. Listen to "Children of The New Dawn" below and look for the full score soon via Invada and Lakeshore.

Dutch, baroque psych pop artist Jacco Gardner has a new album of swirly, trippy music headed our way in November. "Somnium" is inspired by early sci-fi literature, a musical reflection of the future past. Listen to the instrumental track "Volva" below and pre-order the record here from Polyvinyl.

Saturday, September 15, 2018

Wow. So Magnetic Eye Records are assembling a cover album of Pink Floyd's "The Wall" using a string of metal artists and more. Tentatively scheduled for a November release, the record includes contributions from The Melvins, Spaceslug, and Mark Lanegan among a whole slew of other artists i've never heard before. I'm particularly interested to hear what Church of The Cosmic Skull's version of "The Trial" sounds like. In the meantime, check out Arkansas stoner/doom metal act Pallbearer's take on "Run Like Hell" below and order the record here.

Friday, September 14, 2018

So, noisy electro-industrial band HEALTH have teamed with indie darlings Soccer Mommy and Corin Roddick of Purity Ring to make a song together. And it works. "Mass Grave" is a slow burning, moody, electro-goth number to perfectly score an overcast day. Read the band's press releases, listen to the jam, and watch the skull-filled video below.

The annals of music history are filled with a rich tradition of trios. Crosby, Stills, & Nash… Emerson, Lake, and Palmer… Lennon, McCartney, and that other guy… And now Soccer Mommy, the guy from Purity Ring, and HEALTH.
We give you ‘MASS GRAVE.’

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Not content with just another LP headed our way, Liars has a 7" out later this month on the always interesting LAMC (Less Artists More Condos) series from Famous Class Records. Listen to "Total 3 Part Saga" below and check out the B-side from the excellently named Tropical Fuck Storm as well. Then get the record here.

Philly artist LUNACY makes dark, trippy, and ominous music that sounds like wandering through some kind of bleak and haunted landscape, a crumbling, fallen empire, dust hanging heavy in the air and drowning out all of the light. In October, the artist is set to release "Just The Beginning," a collection of the EP's recorded over the last two years. Word is, a proper debut full-length will follow at some point. Listen to the noisy and droning "Not in the Sun" below, a meditative dirge of sorts that combines elements of darkwave, industrial, ambience, and noise, then pre-order the record from the artist here.

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Prolific garage rock band (are there any other kind?) JEFF The Brotherhood just released their latest album, "Magick Sounds," last week on Dine Alone. This time around they seem to be pushing things in different and interesting directions, leaving behind their more raucous aesthetic for something a little more interstellar and mind-expanding. Listen to "Parachute" below and get the record here.

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

The long-running post rock act This Will Destroy You are releasing a new record later this month, "New Other Part One," featuring production and engineering from none other than John Congleton. The LA by way of San Marcos, Texas band create a cacophony of guitar noise that has always sounded a bit like venturing into the far reaches of space, a kind of transcendental, meditative hum. Listen to "Go Away Closer" below and pre-order the album here from Dark Operative Digital.

Monday, September 10, 2018

Black Moth Super Rainbow member Tobacco has been making his particular brand of mutant synth psych pop for several years now, and has now released a cover of the 1987 Eric Carmen hit "Hungry Eyes." You know it. That song from "Dirty Dancing." As odd a cover choice it may be, it's pretty good, and strangely faithful to the original. Watch the video below, though maybe it's NSFW. I can't really tell. It looks like scrambled, warped footage from Pokemon porn. Hooray?

Sunday, September 9, 2018

Detroit electronic duo ADULT. have been kicking around for a long time now (20 years!), and now they have a new album of darkened cold wave synth pop for the yearning, churning masses. "This Behavior" is out now on Dais. Order it here and listen to "Perversions of Humankind" below.

Saturday, September 8, 2018

Austin by way of Michigan band Grivo are set to release their debut LP "Elude" this November on the ever-expanding and excellent Holodeck label. The band's low-tempo, reverbed, and ethereal brand of harder-edged shoegaze is a more than welcome addition to the label's roster, the sound of the universe sighing. Listen to "Burnout" below and pre-order the record here.

Friday, September 7, 2018

Dario Argento turned 78 years old today, and as a celebration of sorts, the good folks over at Waxwork Records have released beautiful new soundtracks for Profondo Rosso, Inferno, and Phenomena. It's Goblin scores, so you know they're great. Go here to grab the bundle or individual releases, and listen to the theme from "Profondo Rosso" below.

Busybody Ty Segall has a new album headed our way in October (his third one this year), and this time around it's a covers record. "Fudge Sandwich" features Segall takes on tracks from John Lennon, Funkadelic, Neil Young, Sparks, Overkill, and more. Check out his version of Spencer Davis Group's "I'm A Man" below and pre-order the record here from In The Red.

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Meg Baird and Mary Lattimore are certainly neo-folk artists to be reckoned with on their own, but now the two longtime friends are collaborating on a new album (their first together) called "Ghost Forests." Aptly titled, the record looks to be a collection of haunted and mysterious Americana. Listen to the entrancing "Painter of Tygers" below and pre-order the record here from Three Lobed Recordings.

I don't really know anything about Swedish metal band Cult of Luna or New York artist Julie Christmas, but apparently they put out a collaborative record back in 2016, and now one of the tracks off of that album has gotten the remix treatment from synthwave powerhouse Perturbator. And that's really all i need to know. Listen to "Cygnus (Perturbator Remix)" below and cop the download here.

New York pop band Barrie have release a couple of dreamy singles over the last few months, and now they've got another synth jam for the demanding masses, as well as a 12" collection of said singles headed our way next month on Winspear. Listen to "Michigan" below and pre-order the "Singles" record here.

Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Desert psychedelia that sounds like the droning tones of some kind of ritualistic vision quest, Italian band Heart of Snake makes smoky, hazy, encroaching music, fire-lit, sun-drenched vistas as far as the eye can see but the thick and heavy air closing in, flames lapping at your face, spirits rising high. The madmen over at Maple Death Records, continuing their propensity for releasing mind melting, chest thumping, and all around fantastic tapes and records, released the artist's self-titled, 2-track album earlier this summer, the perfect companion for wandering the earth and going blind in the desert, a kind of spaghetti western-horror hybrid. Stream the whole thing below and get the cassette here.

My anticipation for Luca Guadagnino's upcoming "Suspiria" remake is starting to hit a fever pitch with each new trailer, clip, poster, or promotional photo hyping me up more and more. And today, we get our first full taste of Thom Yorke's score along with a video and some album art. Listen to the beautiful and haunting "Suspirium" below and pre-order the record on pink vinyl (due in late October) here from XL. Then make sure you catch the movie the first weekend of November.

Monday, September 3, 2018

It's Labor Day, so happy Labor Day everybody. Anyway, because life is not fair and i made some bad choices growing up, i'm working today. On the drive over this morning, i heard a chilled pop song from Bob Moses, an artist whom i'm entirely unfamiliar with, but whose "Heaven Only Knows" was the perfect balm for my mood. Anyway, listen below and pre-order the upcoming "Battle Lines" album here from Domino.

Sunday, September 2, 2018

Australian psych rock outfit ORB just released a new video for new jam "I Want What I Want." The song has a kind of Sabbath as fronted by Syd Barrett vibe going for it, and i'm all on in. No word yet on a new record, but something should be brewing soon via Flightless Records. Watch the video below.

Saturday, September 1, 2018

I don't know what's in the water these days in Australia, but they are just consistently knocking it out of the park on the music front lately, garage rock, psychedelia, and now some thrumming, twanging post punk from Melbourne's Terry. Watch the video for "Bureau" below and get the "I'm Terry" album here or here.